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Motor - New Car: Fiesta Special Supplement
"The Fiesta File"
5th February 1977
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New Car: Fiesta Special Supplement




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.....and are truly international in outlook. For what Ford of Europe has achieved to a far greater extent than the EEC, is to make Europe seem like one country. There are departments in Ford of Germany run by Englishmen and departments in Ford of Britain headed by Germans - and departments in both run by Americans. Many executives now divide their working week between Britain, Germany, France and Spain, and chairman John McDougall's schedule for just one month shows just how dependent Ford of Europe is on the aeroplane. Without Ford Air with its scheduled services run by 18 sealer twin engined turboprop Gulfstreams - some of which are about to be replaced by BA1-11s - plus the special executive twin jet HS125s, Ford of Europe would find it difficult to operate.

Most striking of all, however, is the incredible transport network required to ensure that all those components travelling in both directions across the Channel, and speeding across Europe from country to country by train or by giant truck, arrive at the assembly line in time to be built into a multi national Fiesta. This concept of a European car built from a complex mix of British, French, Belgian, German and Spanish components I found so fascinating that it was responsible for the undertaking of this supplement on Ford of Europe, an undertaking that meant so much globe-trotting. One memorable occasion saw us quit the warm terminal at Cologne Airport then stumble around in the fog outside looking for the Gulfstream. "If you think we're going to fly in this weather you must be joking," declared its captain from the foot of the steps when at last we found it." It was on that same visit to Cologne that I was driven at high speed round the Merkenich handling course in a Fiesta by Egon Gogel, small car development manager who had been responsible for its development, and it was very obvious that he knew the course like the back of his hand for fog shrouded it completely.

Then there was the morning when at 8 am I sat talking to a very calm and relaxed Hanns Brand, head of the Valencia plant. No one would have guessed from his behaviour that the plant was practically under siege from militant strikers.

I am indebted to so many people from Ford of Europe for their great help on the preparation of this supplement, from the Vice-Chairman, Walter Hayes who gave the project his blessing from the start, to Harry Gallon of Ford Public Affairs who has found himself practically working full time for Motor as he answered yet more of my questions, dug out yet more photographs, and shepherded me around Europe.

I thank them all.

Philip Turner

Typical weekly schedule for John McDougall Chairman Ford of Europe

MONDAY:
0800 - Fiesta launch meeting, Warley
0900 - Truck operations review and product plan
1130 -
1230 - Lunch with visitors
1330 -
1330 - Call to US
1430 - Policy Committee (the 10 top Ford of Europe executives)
1700 - More office work and home aboul 1930

TUESDAY:
0800 - Warley Office, overnight telexes from overseas. Half an hour wilh secretary
0900 - Product Committee at Dunton, review of future models
1230 - Back lo Warley for luncheon
1415 - Leave for Stansted-airport. Company aircraft to Madrid
Evening - Madrid, Dinner with two outside directors of Ford Espana and Spanish supplier

WEDNESDAY:
0930 - Meeting with Government Minister in Madrid
1030 - Take off from Madrid for Valencia
1100 - Valencia. Drive to plant Meeting, plant tour. Lunch with plant executives
1330 - Leave Valencia for Bordeaux
1530 - Meeting in transaxle plant Bordeaux
1800 - Take off for Stansted and home

THURSDAY:
0830 - Commercial vehicle evaluation driving at Boreham
1030 - Back lo Warley
1035 - Calls from Soulh Africa, Australia. Lunch at Warley after normal morning's work
1430 - Programming committee. Planning future production schedules for all European factories
1630 - Telephone calls: Dearborn
1700 - Expense budgets meeting
1900 - Home - call from States

FRIDAY:
London all day
Meetings on European sales operations. Lunch with visiting suppliers. Review agendas for management meetings.
Got to a theatre in the evening, bul late due to a Dearborn call - and missed dinner!

The following week he had one day out of the country for a Board meeting in Cologne (Ford of Germany). He made one visit to Dagenham to see Fiestas in pilot plant and another to Dunton for a review of clay models and forward year colours and trims.

Ford of Britain - Dearborn to Dagenham

When Ford of Europe was formed in 1967, Ford of Britain was its strongest arm, with a yearly output of over 600,000 compared to Ford of Germany's 375,000. In the 30 years since the end of Ihe War Ford had been pouring money into its British operation, £516 million in the last 10 years.

It all began in 1904 with the importing of two Ford Model As by The Central Motor Car Company of London. Then in 1907 a young character called Percival Perry formed with partners the company of Perry, Thornton and Schreiber Ltd., which absorbed The Central Motor Car Co. and began importing and selling Ford Model Ns at a time when Ford were already building 13,500 cars a year in Detroit They signed their first Ford dealer in Britain, Percy F. Hendy of Southampion, in November, 1909, and sales continued to increase so satisfactorily that in 1911 Perry persuaded Henry Ford to open an assembly works in Britain. The name of Ihe company was changed to the Ford Motor Co. (England), Ltd. and in an old carriage works at Trafford Park outside Manchester they put together 3000 Model Ts in Ihe first year of operation.

By 1913 output had risen to 6,139, which made Trafford Park the car plant with the highest output in Europe. Production would have exceeded 10,000 in 1914 but for the War, and by now the Manchester Model T was not merely being assembled from parts out of large boxes from America but contained many British made components. After the war, Model Ts continued to sell in large numbers in Britain but the 1920 Motor Car Act which increased Ihe horse power tax to £1 per horse power meant that the Model T was now paying £23 a year instead of £6. 6s and as a result Ihe 12 hp Morris Cowley could be advertised as "The Car that Made the Roads of England British" because it caught up with and outsold the Model T.

Even so, the Trafford Park plant was unable to produce enough of the new Model. As that replaced Ihe Model T to meet the demand, so Ford came to Dagenham. This desolate site on the Essex marshes was chosen because the River Thames flowing past provided deep water shipping facilities to other Ford plants overseas, most of which had their own port facilities. Some 22,000 reinforced concrete piles each 40 feet long had to be driven in to the marsh to support the new plant. Production ceased at Trafford Park on a Friday in October 1931 and began at Dagenham the following Tuesday.

But although Ford was no longer Manchester based, the Manchester men who transferred to Dagenham continued to dominate the thinking of Ford in Britain. Significantly, Ford stayed outside the SMMT, for Ford, Ford cars and their owners were outside the main stream of British motoring. Quirky and down.....

Captions -

Top-Left - President Harold "Red" Poling
Top-Middle - Vice Chairman Walter Hayes
Top-Right - Vice President William Hayden